Freestyle Assessment thoughts

I really enjoy reading the freestyle assessments I receive.  They are so interesting.   People often ask me for some ideas on what to write and send.  The following is what I have shared with them. Hopefully it will help you as well.  

I have seen freestyle assessments written in many different ways.  The key thing is to show the progress your child has made from last July/August to now.  Ohio law says the child must make progress within their ability.  So when I do this for my kids I try to think through the following questions.  How have they changed? What can they do now that they could not do a few months ago, several months ago, and a year ago?   What do I have demonstrates this? (pictures, samples etc.)  Lastly, what can I share that communicates this?  

As far as writing up the assessment, I have seen them set up by subject, by project, and just sharing progress. The following are some ideas to get you started.  I think once you get started you will be surprised at how much you have to share.

If you write by subject you might write about the following.  I am going to give many examples to choose from.  Please do not feel you need to use all of them.  These are to spur your thinking about your year. 

Reading:  Share the books your child has read or you have read to them. Maybe share a series they are into like the Boxcar Children, Arthur, or Henry and Mudge.  What magazines do they enjoy reading?  Is there a web sites they enjoy visiting and reading?  What your child is reading now versus the beginning of the year communicates the progress they have made. 

Writing/Handwriting If your child is writing tell me what they are writing. Tell me if they are making lists, writing their name,  writing stories, labeling pictures, writing letters etc.  If they are older, tell me about their creative writing, poetry, or journaling.  Send me a sample.   Do they write a blog, email letters to Grandma, or maybe record in a nature journal?   Tell me about it, send me a link, or take a picture of it.

Math: Share how your child is telling time, working with money, adding or subtracting, multiplying or dividing, using percents, and/or measuring.  Tell me about activities your child participates in like cooking, grocery shopping, or building with blocks or LEGOS ©.  Share games with me that you play that involve math.   If you happen to do any worksheets you can always send in one from the beginning of the year and the end. 

Science/Social Studies/History/Art/ Music/PE: For younger kids you might share experiences to demonstrate progress.  You write  about the museums you have visited, zoo visits, park trips, neighborhood walks, nature walks, music lessons, and any sports your child may participate in.  Do you attend the YMCA to swim each week?  Do you attend an art class?  Tell me about books they have read or you have read together, if they have completed any projects, or art work your child has created.  This is a great place to include pictures.   For older students share what they have learned this year, a class they have taken, and/or a research project they have been working on.  Having your child write a summary of what they have learned is a fantastic way to demonstrate progress.  

Another way share your student's progress is to write up your assessment by project.  For instance you worked on a community or family garden together.  You discuss how you preplanned by getting books from the library and  reading about plants, your internet research, the garden store you visited,  how you measured the rows, how you prepared the soil, did you count the plants, if you sold them the skills you used,  and anything else that your child learned.  You might include pictures of your child working in the garden, some notes your child took while researching, and a list of books your child read.  You might share the 1-3 projects that your family used to facilitate learning for the year.  Then maybe you share about trips, nature walks, park visits, any type of lesson, and art you do.   

You are trying to showcase what your child has accomplished this year.  Usually when I sit down and think about all we have  learned, I am excited about the progress my kids have made.   If you are working on learning most days you have made progress. This is your chance to celebrate by sharing it with me. 

If I can help you in anyway let me know. Link to Freestyle Assessment
Becky
ohiohomeschool@gmail.com

No Biking in the House without a Helmet

My mom and I have a running joke.  She tends to think she has told me things that she has not. I usually say something  like "Back up.  I think I missed a day," or "Thanks for including me. "  I am of course joking, and it is kind of funny.   I guess when you have 19 kids you are bound to forget to share some things.

Two weeks ago she starts telling me a story about how a friend of hers called to relay that  she saw my name in Melissa's Faye Greene's new book.  My mom kept talking and I said,  "I am sorry mom, I think I missed a day."  "Oh, didn't I tell you that Melissa included our family in a chapter in her new book No Biking in the House without a Helmet?, " she said.  I must of missed that.  Thanks for including me. 

I went and found the book at my local library.  It really is a great book.  Melissa Faye Green is an amazing author with a realistic take on  the world of adoption.  She tells wonderful stories of adopting older children and has a witty way of viewing her world.  She will have you laughing out loud.
 
Enjoy!~
Becky
PS  I am on p. 100.

The Slow-cooker: A homeschooler's best friend!

Growing up my mother use to rave about her slow cooker.  I still remember her bright orange one humming along in our very brown wallpapered kitchen.  She tried to convince me of the wonders of the slow-cooker and the thrill of knowing dinner was taken care of early in the morning. I foolishly just smiled at her, but  now I thank her for her wisdom as I plug in one of my 3 slow-cookers.
I want to describe to you my cooking style, or lack of cooking style. I often joke I am a food arranger  and not a much of a cook.  I do things like put yogurt and cottage cheese in bowls, arrange vegetables, put hot dogs in buns. . you get the picture.  My college roommate Sue told me her goal in this life is to never cook a Thanksgiving dinner, and to that I replied Amen!  So when I talk about how I love my slow-cooker, you know this is remedial cooking. 
My   favorite cook  books are The Make it Fast, Cook it Slow, and More Make it Fast, Cook it Slow.  Stephanie O'Dea, the author, also has a blog with many slow-cooker recipes.  Her recipes are gluten free, but can easily be switched if you can eat gluten.  I would recommend starting with the book from the  library and moving forward if you like it.  We have many picky eaters in our house  and  like that the recipes do not have many ingredients.  But, that may not be your thing. Currently, we are partial to her Sloppy Joe recipe,since every single person in our house actually eats it.  We also like her Coq Au Vin,  and spinach casserole recipes.  She has a section on slow-cooking to taste like take-out.  You gotta love that!


So to end, I want to share with you why I love my  slow-cooker.  You may hum a happy tune as you read.
1. In the summer it does not heat up my whole house.
2. I dump the ingredients in and they magically come out OK.
3. I smell dinner all day as I homeschool and know that it is taken care of.
4. It makes me feel like a better person in preparing healthy meals for my family.
5. It is not very messy.
6. Lastly, it is as close as a food arranger gets to serious cooking.
Happy Cooking! 
Becky

The blog that changed my life, and helped me start homeschooling.

I did not start off my life thinking I would be a homeschooler.  I  had no dreams of homeschooling.  My dreams involved yellow buses and sending my kids away to be educated.   I knew  some homeschoolers when we lived in Atlanta, GA, but I  had no intention of following in their footsteps.  I had no children at the time when I had these thoughts.  Funny how things change when you actually have children.

Fast forward a few years.  I had four  children four and under.  I had my four year old and two three year old children  in the special needs preschool in our district.  It soon became obvious that the school would not be a good fit for my child with Autism, my profoundly gifted child, and my child with learning issues.   I was spending a great deal of time managing all of their programs, and putting people on and off the yellow bus.   One day I thought, "you know I could do this myself and it might be much easier and probably take less energy."  But, I had no clue where to start.  I began to think how does one homeschool a child with Autism?  I had no idea and I started reading books and doing internet searches.  I came up a wonderful blog called aut2behome.  Now called  http://aut2bhomeincarolina.blogspot.com.  I was able to see that homeschooling all kinds of kids was possible.  I was impressed by the wonderful things  Tammy, the blog owner, had accomplished with her kids.  I was amazed actually.

A few years later I  was lucky enough to be in an email loop with Tammy and get to know her better.  She is an amazing women who loves her children, Charoltte Mason, RDI, and educating at home.  I was lucky enough to tell her how she changed my life and put me on a path that has been the right choice for our family.  She has graciously agreed to let me post about her, and I though you  might enjoy looking at her blog as well.
Becky